Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.
And I'm Sam.
Having your photograph appear on the
cover of a magazine makes
you famous around the
world. But imagine if that photo showed
you hugging and playing
with wild chimpanzees!
That's exactly what happened to
Jane Goodall who shot to fame
in 1965 when she appeared
on the cover of National Geographic
magazine. Jane introduced
the world to the social and
emotional lives of the wild chimpanzees
of Gombe, in eastern Tanzania.
Jane spent years living among families
of wild chimpanzees.
Her observations changed
the way we view our closest animal
relatives - and made us think
about what it means to
be human.
In this programme, we'll be hearing from
the iconic environmentalist,
Jane Goodall. She
reflects on how attitudes have changed
as science has
uncovered the deep connections
between humans and the great apes -
large primates including
chimpanzees, gorillas and
orang-utans, who are closely
related to humans.
And of course we'll be learning some
related vocabulary along the way.
As well as Dr Goodall, the National
Geographic photographs also
made the chimpanzees of Gombe
famous. People around the world became
interested in the lives
of a family of chimps living
in a remote corner of Africa.
When Gombe's alpha female died in 1972,
she was so well-loved that
she had an obituary
in The Times newspaper. But what was
her name? That's our
quiz question: which chimpanzee's
obituary appeared in The Times?
Was it: a) Frodo?, b Flo?, or c) Freud?
Well, 1972 is a bit before my time, Rob - I
wasn't even born then, but I think it's b)
Flo.
OK, Sam, we'll find out later
if you were right. Now, when
Jane first visited Tanzania
in the 1960s most scientists believed the
only animals capable
of making and using tools
were humans. But what Jane witnessed
about the behaviour
of one chimpanzee, who she named
Greybeard, turned this idea on its head.
Here she recalls that famous
day to Jim Al Khalili,
for the podcast of BBC Radio 4's
Discovery programme, The Life Scientific:
I could see this black hand picking grass
stems and pushing them
down into the termite
mound and pulling them out with termites
clinging on with their jaws.
And the following day,
I saw him pick a leafy twig and strip the
leaves, so not only was
he using objects as
tools but modifying those
objects to make tools.
Jane observed the chimpanzee,
Greybeard, finding small wooden
branches called twigs and modifying
them - changing them slightly
in order to improve them.
By stripping away the leaves from twigs
and using them to collect
ants and termites to
eat, Greybeard had made a tool - an
instruments or simple piece of
equipment, for example
a knife or hammer, that you hold in your
hands and use for a particular job.
Previously, it was believed that animals
were incapable of making
tools on their own. What
Jane saw was proof of the intelligence
of wild animals.
Jane Goodall's studies convinced her that
chimps experience the same
range of emotions
as humans, as she explains here to BBC
Radio 4's The Life Scientific:
I wasn't surprised that chimps had these
emotions. It was fascinating
to realise how many of
their gestures are like ours ... so you can
watch them without knowing
anything about
them and when they greet with
a kiss and embrace, they pat one
another in reassurance, they
hold hands, they seek physical contact
to alleviate nervousness
or stress - you know,
it's so like us.
Holding hands, embracing and kissing
were some of the chimpanzee's
gestures - movements
made with hands, arms or head, to
express ideas and feelings.
In the same way as humans, the
chimpanzees would pat each
other - touch someone gently
and repeatedly with their hand held flat.
Much of their behaviour was human-like.
Just as I would hug a friend
to reassure them,
the chimps used physical contact to
alleviate stress - make pain
or problems less intense
or severe. In fact, chimps are
so alike us that sometimes
they even get their name in the newspaper!
Ah yes, Sam, you mean the quiz question
I asked you earlier: which
chimpanzee had their
obituary published in The Times?
And I guessed it was b) Flo.
And that's absolutely right. Well done,
Sam! Give yourself a pat on the back!
OK. In this programme, we've been
hearing about legendary
zoologist and activist, Jane
Goodall, and her experiences living
among great apes - primates like
chimpanzees who
are humans - closest animal relatives.
Jane witnessed the chimpanzees of
Gombe modify - or slightly alter,
objects like leaves and
twigs to make tools - hand-held
instruments used for a particular job.
Many of the chimpanzees gestures - body
movements made to communicate
and express emotions - like
kissing and patting - touching someone
gently and repeatedly with
a flat hand - were almost
human.
And just like us, the chimps sought
physical contact to
alleviate - or reduce the severity
of, nervousness and stress.
That's all for this programme.
Bye for now!
Bye bye!